| Pages in topic: < [1 2 3 4 5] > | Recommended location in the UK Thread poster: Eva Bartilucci
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XXXphxxx (X) 
United Kingdom
Local time: 12:24
Portuguese to English
+ ...
Jenny Forbes wrote:
What about Exeter? Thriving university offering language studies, population approx. 120,000. Beautiful, historical cathedral city on the river Exe, set in the splendid landscapes of Devon with its two intriguing coasts. 2 1/2 hours to London by train. Lots of modern shops, restaurants, nightlife. Small international airport.
I don't live there, but my sister does. I know it well and can highly recommend it!
Tell us where you think sounds nicest.
Jenny
All you could want in a compact and beautiful city with a stunning coastline and fabulous Dartmoor (now featured in 'War Horse' ), a short train ride from Bristol but IMO a whole lot nicer. You haven't said if you're more of an urban or country person.
| | | | Setti Mulari
New Zealand
Local time: 23:24
Finnish to English
| How'bout Portsmouth | Mar 13, 2012 |
I'd like to throw Portsmouth into the mix.
The university offers MA in Translation studies (www.port.ac.uk), it's an hour and 15 minutes from central London, you can catch the ferry to France (Caen, Cherbourg and Le Havre) for like £20 return and the fast service only takes 3 hours, there are direct links to both Gatwick and Heathrow and both are easily reached within an hour and it is the cheapest pl... See more I'd like to throw Portsmouth into the mix.
The university offers MA in Translation studies (www.port.ac.uk), it's an hour and 15 minutes from central London, you can catch the ferry to France (Caen, Cherbourg and Le Havre) for like £20 return and the fast service only takes 3 hours, there are direct links to both Gatwick and Heathrow and both are easily reached within an hour and it is the cheapest place to live in South East England. Portsmouth has 180k inhabitants yet its small enough to walk everywhere. You won't need a car.
I like the easy and cheap access to Europe and I like living by the sea. There are lots of cafes and bars, too. It's also in what's known as the Solent Corridor, which is economically strong.
As for the other options that people have mentioned:
Birmingham = Hellhole
Coventry = Warwick Uni is great academically
Bath = Lovely!
Newcastle = Great night out!
Manchester = A bit dilapidated in the centre and Old Trafford areas (only bits that I've seen)
Edinburgh = Great Scottish city
Exeter = Very nice
Cardiff = Nice(ish)
Bristol = Go to Bath
Why don't you do a tour of the cities and decide which one you like the best? ▲ Collapse
| | | | XXXphxxx (X)
United Kingdom
Local time: 12:24
Portuguese to English
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I would add that if you're planning on having a car this is not the place for you. I can't think of anywhere less car-friendly, it's a permanent log-jam in town and a nightmare to get in or out of in a car.
I agree with Setti, it's definitely worth a quick recce of your shortlist so you can really make your mind up.
| | | | Ty Kendall
United Kingdom
Local time: 12:24
Hebrew to English
Setti Mulari wrote: Birmingham = Hellhole
I like your thinking
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XXXphxxx (X)
United Kingdom
Local time: 12:24
Portuguese to English
+ ...
| Was there a debate? | Mar 13, 2012 |
Ty Kendall wrote: Setti Mulari wrote: Birmingham = Hellhole I like your thinking
Poor Brummies, I'm sure they're the loveliest people but heck the city is a lost cause. Don't get swayed by claims that Birmingham has more canals than Venice, there the similarity ends.
| | | | XXXphxxx (X)
United Kingdom
Local time: 12:24
Portuguese to English
+ ...
| Have you been to any of those cities? | Mar 13, 2012 |
Eva Bartilucci wrote:
Considering your different opinions, for me it comes down to Bristol, Manchester and maybe Cardiff.
You may have to tell us a bit more:
1) Do you like historic cities?
2) Are you averse to cold?
3) What do you mean by 'leisure'? Nightlife, sailing, long country walks...?
4) How long are you planning on being there?
The interpreting element probably narrows your options down a little and if the course is high on the list of priorities then it sounds as if you have to take it from there rather than finding a good city and getting the course to fit in around it. You may also want to look into postgrad fees, which I believe are lower in Scotland than in England; if not now they probably soon will be.
| | | | JaneD
Sweden
Local time: 13:24
Member (2009)
Swedish to English
+ ...
| A vote for Birmingham | Mar 13, 2012 |
Lisa Simpson, MCIL wrote: Ty Kendall wrote: Setti Mulari wrote: Birmingham = Hellhole I like your thinking Poor Brummies, I'm sure they're the loveliest people but heck the city is a lost cause. Don't get swayed by claims that Birmingham has more canals than Venice, there the similarity ends.
I'd like to put in a vote for Birmingham, as it was actually the best of the UK cities I lived in.
It's not an attractive city, true - but it works, (including the roads, which is more than can be said for Bristol, for example), and there is a great social scene there. There is a lot of nice countryside within easy reach (the Malverns, the Cotswolds...) and unlike London it doesn't take days to get out of the city either. And it does occasionally get decent temperatures in the summer.
But if the OP has to be near a translation course and the one in Birmingham is no good, then I will transfer my vote to Exeter, where I've never lived, but which is near Torbay, where I have. Very pleasant - although it rained every day but 2 the winter I was there!
| | | | Into
United Kingdom
Local time: 12:24
English to Finnish
| Sheffield - highest immigration rate in UK at the moment | Mar 13, 2012 |
Eva,
University of Sheffield has surely a language faculty and it si an excellent university. In general Sheffield has highest immigration rate in UK as the international graduates want to stay. Also the local council is VERY business friendly and therefore foreign companies tend to settle here easily too. The trains are just 2 hours to London, also there is direct train connection from Manchester international airport to Sheffield, just one hour. The flights are often much more ... See more Eva,
University of Sheffield has surely a language faculty and it si an excellent university. In general Sheffield has highest immigration rate in UK as the international graduates want to stay. Also the local council is VERY business friendly and therefore foreign companies tend to settle here easily too. The trains are just 2 hours to London, also there is direct train connection from Manchester international airport to Sheffield, just one hour. The flights are often much more affordable to Manchester too, in comparison to UK.
The city may still have some of the 'steel city' reputation left, however that is not the reality here. 11 years ago I came to Sheffield and hated it, now it is a completely different place and I love it.
So welcome to Sheffield. ▲ Collapse
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Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 12:24
Member (2008)
Italian to English
Ty Kendall wrote:
Bath is practically a suburb of Bristol (13 miles/20-ish mins away) so in this way, you'd get two for the price of one.
I've never been to Bath
Bath was once a charming place, but in recent years it has been wrecked because it has been demoted to a mass tourism destination (for no good reason). It's a horrible place now, full of aimless people wandering around from souvenir shop to fast-food outlet, not exactly knowing why they came to Bath and devoid of any knowledge about 18th. century architecture and urban planning (which used to be the reason for going there).
| | | | Ty Kendall
United Kingdom
Local time: 12:24
Hebrew to English
| Can't the same be said for most British cities nowadays? | Mar 13, 2012 |
Tom in London wrote:
It's a horrible place now, full of aimless people wandering around from souvenir shop to fast-food outlet
Doesn't almost (if not every city) essentially have the same ubiquitous features, high streets are saturated with McDonalds, Subway, Caffè Nero, Starbucks, Topshop, Greggs, Burton, Boots, River Island, Primark (eek), Argos etc.
They all look identical.
| | | | Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 12:24
Member (2008)
Italian to English
| No more Bath | Mar 13, 2012 |
Ty Kendall wrote:
They all look identical.
The prostitution (I use the word carefully) of Bath is NOT the same as the branding of all of Britain's town centres. Bath was special. The beautiful architecture is still there, of course, and the beautiful setting of the town among the hills of Somerset, but the whole place has been overlaid with the vulgarity of mass tourism, and the activities of the townspeople have been reduced to supplying whatever they think the tourists will buy; in addition to which there has been some really nasty "pastiche classical" new building in the town. I revisited Bath last summer but I don't think I'll be going again - it was a very depressing experience.
Anyway I don't see what the OP's problem is with London. London is not all that more expensive than the rest of the UK; it's just that there are more things in London to spend your money on! But if, like me, you're not a big spender, then London can be a wonderful place - and lots of things are free (including some of the greatest museums in the world, the most interesting smaller contemporary galleries, the parks, the river, the people....).
I'd say go for London but avoid dining out in the most expensive restaurants and don't be a shopaholic. If you live outside London you'll be spending a fortune to go there, travelling on the most expensive trains in the world.
"He who is tired of London is tired of life" (Dr. Samuel Johnson). Maybe some of the people who will be at the forthcoming London PowWow will back me up !
[Edited at 2012-03-13 13:13 GMT]
| | | | Ty Kendall
United Kingdom
Local time: 12:24
Hebrew to English
| As a yokel from the provinces.... | Mar 13, 2012 |
I have to say that I can understand the OP's reluctance for London. It is more expensive (considerably more than the North) and when I went there it felt like a foreign country.
So impersonal. So crowded. People don't make eye contact on the tube.
What's that all about? . It freaked me out.
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Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 12:24
Member (2008)
Italian to English
Ty Kendall wrote:
I have to say that I can understand the OP's reluctance for London. It is more expensive (considerably more than the North) and when I went there it felt like a foreign country.
So impersonal. So crowded. People don't make eye contact on the tube.
What's that all about? . It freaked me out.
London is a world city with a truly multicultural, ethnically diverse population. It is not really "English". Certainly it's impersonal and crowded (in the central parts, at peak times). And yes, people are not very sociable or friendly. And yet.....
| | | | Richard Foulkes (X)
United Kingdom
Local time: 12:24
German to English
+ ...
Can't let this go on any longer without mentioning probably the greatest city in the world .
- Over 450,000 inhabitants.
- 3 universities
- Attractive? The waterfront is a Unesco world heritage site. More listed buildings, art galleries and museums than any city outside London...I could go on
- Flights to Milan, Pisa, Rome, Rimini, Naple... See more
| | | | Michael Beijer
United Kingdom
Local time: 12:24
Member (2009)
Dutch to English
+ ...
| I wouldn't give up on London just yet... | Mar 13, 2012 |
I don't think you should give up on London because of the fact that it is too expensive or impersonal. I live in Lewes (East Sussex), and I doubt that London is all that more expensive.
I recently visited New Cross, in south east London, as my wife will be studying anthropology at Goldsmiths in the coming academic year, and I was really surprised at how nice the area was and what a community feeling there was there. Also, the multicultural aspect of many parts of London shouldn't b... See more I don't think you should give up on London because of the fact that it is too expensive or impersonal. I live in Lewes (East Sussex), and I doubt that London is all that more expensive.
I recently visited New Cross, in south east London, as my wife will be studying anthropology at Goldsmiths in the coming academic year, and I was really surprised at how nice the area was and what a community feeling there was there. Also, the multicultural aspect of many parts of London shouldn't be underestimated. I am quite happy living in the idyllic little town of Lewes at the moment, but I am definitely looking forward to discovering more of London when my wife starts studying at Goldsmiths!
We also happened to be just on time for the Deptford High Street Saturday market (http://www.gosomewhere.co.uk/southeastlondon/godeptford.html ), which was amazing and definitely worth a visit.
Michael
[Edited at 2012-03-13 14:18 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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